| Chu Yen-Ping will never truly emerge out of the rotten hole of filmmaking some critics have unfortunately placed him in forever since Fantasy Mission Force and Island Of Fire. But this versatile, genuinely crazy... yes eclectic filmmaker to say the least knows his strengths. Wild and wacky usually being the ones employed even though dramatic fare such as A Home Too Far showcased a very competent side. For this high flying, totally incoherent 90s Wuxia, his duet with Wong Jing is a match made in heaven. With Wong's crazy script backing him, Chu goes to town as bounty hunters Big Dagger (Tony Leung Ka-Fai), Little Dagger (Jimmy Lin) square off against their rivals Big Bewitchment (Sharla Cheung) and Little Bewitchment (Gloria Yip). Often after the same thieves, the latest is the man/wife duo of Nine Tail Fox (Jacky Cheung) and Flying Cat (Maggie Cheung). Then some other stuff happens really fast and then the movie is over...
Existing solely and rightly just to have sheer wacky craziness on display, Chu Yen-Ping brings to life the very literal characteristics of Nine Tail Fox (cue massive tail) and Flying Cat (Maggie Cheung acts VERY feline). The evident key is to pour it on and furthermore the four bounty hunters take on a bunch of death gods. One is Lo Lieh as Must Die who dies after one blow and Yuen Cheung-Yan is Never Die who puts up more of a struggle. That is until he's subjected to love, sex and general naughtiness but his hand lingers. Fans of The Addam's Family and Evil Dead II will like what happens next and this general theft/homage is a true trademark of Chu Yen-Ping's. In reality, it's not just about pouring it on and keeping it snappy but to bring to life the above, something Chu proves highly adapt at. Merging with all this with is Ching Siu-Tung's, Ma Yuk-Sing's and Dion Lam's high flying choreography that has something fresh (and only a handful of scenes on the unclear side) around each corner. Culminating in a finale with extensive characters in one frame quite often, the wire crew had their work cut out for them and succeeds quite splendidly. Further special mention goes to a thoroughly disgusting explanation of how to get rid of the Kiss Of Death poison. Even the young members of the cast gets sent out of this scene at that point and the endless list of madness can be filled with inclusions of lustpowder and powers of flatulence too. Also with Ng Man-Tat and Pauline Chan. |